


aquaphobia

by justaregularsis



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-26 10:32:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16679968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justaregularsis/pseuds/justaregularsis
Summary: Lance- he loves the ocean, any body of water really. He can’t get enough of it, cherishing every second of any memory he has with him being in or close to an ocean, lake even as simple as jumping in a puddle on a very foreign planet. Until a mission. He finds himself trapped in an endless body of dark misty waters, with him and his teammate 'i must save him.'PS i suck at summaries, i might change it later :)PPS there will be VERY slight shipping - if anything, gentle mutual pining, nothing serious!Time frame: shiro is here, keith is here, lance is here all in respective lions





	1. Seeing Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, Im Katie or Justaregularsis. i don't mind what you use! this is my first fic and i hope you enjoy it. i plan to update at LEAST once every week and a half and the chapters around 3,000-5,000 words, obviously this is a shorter one but its only the intro so yeahhh. i actually planned for this to be a oneshot but i couldn't help myself ;-; so i don't know how long this will be. So uhm, stick around!! Also, I love angst ESPECIALLY Langst (can't you tell im such a lance stan ^-^) sooo im not very sorry lol. Okay well enjoy guys!!!
> 
> PS i use a different app to type this stuff up on so im sorry if it looks a bit wonky, just tell me if it does (of course ill be editing it throughout the updates but just incase) Again, enjoy!!

“Lance,” Shiro says, trying to nab the attention of the blue paladin whose gaze was focussed towards the navy planet that projected as a hologram in front of the small group. “Lance, please I need you to pay attention. This regards you specifically.” The last statement made the boy snap his head back into the meeting, Keith huffed impatiently and Allura snickered at him, obvious disappointment sunk deep in their faces and Shiro’s had hardly been less than that of theirs. Opening then closing then opening his mouth again, looking more so like a fish planning its next place to swim to…idle “yeah,” he finally bit out apologetically “sorry, I was just-“ he was cut off by Keith bitterly, “distracted.” He finished for lance, bluntly, earning a disproving look from Shiro, his ‘mentor’- or that’s was Lance called their relationship. “I’m sorry Shiro.” Lance emphasized his point, trying to pull away from the sly conclusion Keith was trying to make, “Right, it’s okay Lance. I realize you’re excited for this mission, but stay focused, then you can go.” Shiro tried to reassure the blue paladin but he just seemed to sink deeper into himself as his shoulders had begun to shrug more and his spine curled inwards, ever so slightly _‘stupid Lance, you can never get anything right. Why was I even put in charge of this mission. There’s been a mistake’_ Lance contemplated, deciding not to delve deeper into the team’s decision he looked toward Shiro who was looking anything but well rested. He of whom started softening his gaze and looked back to the hologram of the new planet and started back up with his presentation “Okay, so this is the planet ‘Meer’ as we all know, it has very minimal land which moves around a lot. And because of this, its people have adapted to live under its seas, only able to rise above the surface for very brief amounts of time; so luckily they’ll be able to greet you,” he looked at the red and blue paladins, “then lead you under. Because of Blue’s better underwater capabilities you guys will take her. A day and night cycle on Meer usually lasts about thirty-two hours about sixteen hours per revolution. However, because it has two moons to reflect the sun’s light, sooo you guys really won’t notice a thing, especially because you’ll be deep below its seas.” “Alright,” Lance nodded his head along with Keith, searching his mind for a relevant question, finally finding one he proceeded with the small groups attention “Two things, What,” he paused and cleared his throat to speak up, he began again, “is the spacetime differential for Meer? And how will we be able to conduct the meeting? Without any troubles…say having to talk using the lion or…”Lance trailed off, seeing Shiro perk his head up, happy to hear that Lance was thinking of these critical things before having to be presented with the information. “Uh-” Shiro started, then thought a second “An hour for Meer seems to be about three for us. So we won’t have to go into a cryo-sleep for this one. We’ll be in for repair and maintenance for a while, so being parked in its orbit will allot you guys some time in Meer.” The Red and Blue paladins nodded their heads simultaneously, Shiro continued “Luckily, Coran, Pidge and Hunk were able to invent these little water to air converting tubes. The transfiguring tech is on one the end of each tube. Unfortunately, it will be uncomfortable to put on. Because the tubes need to go inside of your, uh” he stopped trying to explain “so, you have to force the tubes down your nose and to your windpipe, fortunately the tech side will stay flush to your nose. But, once a day they need to be cleaned Hunk and Pidge made a video of how to insert them and clean them. There is also one for the mouth, though it only allows you to speak however they will not convert the water to air, don’t worry, they will understand you. Now, unfortunately you can’t eat with them in…So uh, good luck with those.” Shiro chuckled uncomfortably, after the two paladins traded pained looks, the Red one finally chirped up, clearing his throat “okay so what about the pressure difference?” “Great question Keith.” Allura praised him immediately , warranting a pained look from Lance. “The healing pod suits are oddly capable of handling large sums of pressure. So you you will be taking two each, should one get damaged, you’ll have a back up. However it is very unlikely that you’ll be needing the other one because of their durability.” She answered rightfully proud of herself and her heritage’s use of technology. “Oh!” Lance almost shrieked, snapping the heads of the other three people in the room, sheepishly he added “How long will we have on Meer?” Shiro and Allura traded looks with each other “I guess the most amount of time would be five quintants. So roughly one-hundred and sixty hours their time, four-hundred and eighty vargas our time” Shiro spoke.

At the last statement, Lance eagerly looked up resting his eyes upon the planet _‘a while, completely underwater’_ he felt giddy, his heart leaping a bit just thinking about it. His eyes danced around the room, first to Allura who was noticeably tired due to the unforgivably late night meeting, then to Shiro who was studying Lance’s reaction and lastly to Keith who was obviously displeased with the new mission, his head ached with the excitement opposing Keiths that of disproval; whom started to experience the symptoms of an upcoming migraine. Allura spoke up after a minute “Lance it is imminent that you remember the Meerian’s customs and way of life. I am aware that you have a ‘thing’ for the water, as well as your distractions that come along with your infatuations” she said, hands waving in the air as she tried to think of the appropriate words and tone that wouldn’t seem too accusatory to Lance that had the potential to hurt his feelings. Continuing with her point she brought a loosely clenched fist up to rest on her chin “They are very flighty people, and will not hesitate to attack and make you and Keith an enemy, should they feel the slightest bit threatened.” _‘Right, just a bunch of mini-keiths when it comes to trust.’_ Lance thought to himself, chuckling under his breath, trying to lighten the tired mood in the discussion room, Lance perked and commented “Oh Princess, don’t worry, I’ll keep Keith on Blue so he won’t even have the chance to even seem hostile.” Earning a tired side eye from Keith and an unamused look from both Shiro and Allura, Lance coughed and started again “So the coordinates are already uploaded in Blue, and the necessary gear is packed and ready to be hauled on her.” Shiro nodded, the bags in his eyes becoming more prominent than earlier “Yup, you’ll be leaving shortly, and by the time you enter the atmosphere and park on one of the islands, the Meerian’s will have already been contacted and should be waiting for you guys to arrive. Not only that but it will be daytime, so I suggest during the six hour trek to Meer that you guys switch flying and get rest and eventually watch that video; so when you guys meet, you have the gear on. Even if you don’t have to get out of Blue right away, you can still be ready for them to lead you to their habitat and start talking ASAP.” Sighing and waiting for Lance to take up the second part of the constantly recited instructions from the previous days, Shiro closed his mouth. “Right, then I just take Blue down into the depths of their sea,” lance added what some might say- unnecessary hand movements mocking those of fish and continued with reciting the plan “docking her wherever they say, and make connections with the critters so we can commence with the new policy making of the Voltron alliance.” He finished, proud of himself, and ready to go he paused again “Thank you, it means a lot to me that I was put in charge of this mission.” The gratitude directed to the leader of Voltron, said with soft tearing eyes, his heart warm at the thought of the ocean. “Good luck Lance and Keith. I know you guys will do perfectly.” Shiro relayed, dismissing the boys to the hangar to prepare for the journey and on command, the boys started to walk out of the briefing room. Lance quickly looked back at Allura just to see if she had anything to add, any last minute ‘Good-luck’s’ _‘or a last minute ‘I love you.’_ Lance notioned hopefully, but her back was turned and the Blue paladin was like always, daydreaming however, he allowed himself to think that only for a small dobosh, however, he needed to focus on not just the mission but another soul as well. _‘Ugh, why did Keith have to come, I could’ve done this mission on my own. It’s not like I hate Keith, but I just don’t want him to risk anything incase, no when I screw this up’._ Lance thought as the boys made their way down to the lion bay. _‘I shouldn’t be thinking this way, I’m just nervous, I’m sure that everything will go as planned.’_ But, it was -in fact- just like Lance to think that of himself, ‘ _Yet, I’m always the anchor to the well working ship of a team, just there to hold them back; never the winds to their sails’_. He sighed long and heavily, earning a confused look from Keith, though not expectant of an answer. _‘this better go right for me’_ His eyebrows came together, lips pursed downwards and head hung low, thinking of all the things that could go wrong, and despite his fun rivalry he had with Keith, he kept comparing himself to the boy who couldn’t be touched the boy who was always better, all the while, asking himself how if in one scenario he could _‘no, would’_ save Keith, he was the better pilot after all. _‘I could be replaced. He couldn’t’_

*

“So,” Keith said, attempting to make small talk, to keep his growing migraine -from his anxious feeling of the mission- at bay, along with trying to get to know Lance, as he was growing tired of the snarky comments that embodied their conversations. “You like the ocean?” He watched as Lance had snapped his head up with thinking of his answer. He turned around, stopping the loading of equipment onto his lion’s cargo bay and answered sincerely, his voice ebullient year calm and reflective as he reminisced the past ‘ _on earth’_ Keith thought. “Yeah, when I was a boy- before moving to the Garrison, I lived in Cuba, right by the beach. I took to the water right away, it was like my home away from home.” He stopped, contemplating if he should speak further on the subject, deciding that he should _‘I’ve gotta get closer to my team somehow’_ , he spoke up again, this time capturing Keith’s eyes “I was actually apart of a local swim team” his blue eyes starting to shine with just the thought of the memory “I placed first in just about every competition the best of the best! And when the season was over, I took up surfing, though I wasn’t as good -but earning silver is still something- I still enjoyed it because, well, I was in the water at least.” Lance’s smile crept on his face as he spoke, soon he was beaming with the recollection of the many happy memories. Realizing he kept his gaze long enough between the two of them, Lance looked away from Keithand started picking the paraphernalia around him, ready still to be loaded in Blue. After fifteen doboshes in silence- other than the occasional grunt from either of the boys, Lance started again. “Though, ever since” his voice struggled with the heavily weighted box in his hand “I came to the Garrison-” he paused and let out a hoarse chuckle, Keith looked at Lance curiously, inquiring him to finish his story. “I’ve always sucked at everything I did, even as a damn cargo pilot. The worst of the worst” The box was now properly on Blue and Keith currently astonished at how humble and almost humiliating Lance’s words were, especially directed to his own self. The Red paladin looked at the Blue boy, his lips were smiling, but his eyes weren’t. Keith wanted to say something but the words just wouldn’t come to him, even when he had a skeleton of a clue as to what he was going to say to the other boy, Lance already had his back turned and onto the third to last box.

Now with the larger items on board, they started loading Blue with the more petite equipment like that of emergency kits, extra under armor, food goo and other personal necessities (mainly Lance’s skin care items) and making more -less awkward- small talk, both paladins disregarded the Blue’s last distressing comment. 

“So Keith,” Lance drew out, “do **you** like the ocean?” The Red paladin thought for a second, racking his brain of any particular memories. “Actually,” he paused wondering how Lance would react, said boy promptly dropped what he was doing to give Keith his full attention when he saw how Keith was searching his head for a clue. “Heh” he stalled then continuing, “I’ve never really been to the ocean.” Lance was in awe, trying to imagine his life without the large body of water in it- it had been almost like a parent to him, calming and ever present, always giving him hugs when he needed, or being a shoulder to vent upon in fact, he blamed the reason as to why he _‘sucked so bad at piloting’_ to the lack of ocean or lake in the dry desert surroundings of the Garrison. Lance felt bad for the red paladin and his lack of empathy for Keith made him feel a bit worse. “Okay. Well, have you ever been to a lake or something?” He asked softly, as to not tread on thin iceKeith was surprised at how calm the Blue paladin was after hearing this information“No… the largest body of water that I’ve been in or seen in person is actually the castle pool.” He confessed, wondering why he was partially looking down on himself, he concluded: because of his lack of interaction with water. After being fed up with feeling this way and playing with his fingers, now ready to start packing up the last of their things Keith looked up. Somehow during that time of fiddling with himself, Lance had drawn closer, standing suddenly about a foot away, his naturally tanned hand was resting on Keith’s shoulder. He had hardly felt the boy touch him let alone rest even the smallest ounce- no- gram of weight on his shoulder, then he began talking, “Keith, buddy, it’s okay. No need to beat yourself up about something you can’t control.” Lance looked earnestly at Keith, eyebrows knitted together along with murky ocean eyes gazing into Keith’s dark violet almost black eyes, immediately after stating that, he smiled wide, and all sad emotion went away and in an instant he resumed “Besides Meer has tons of it! I’m sure that by the time we’re through with it, we’ll both be sick of water!” Lance laughed excitedly, and Keith wondered if there had been any trace of unpleasantness in the Lion’s Hangars. His voice raised and impatient yet happy, Lance concluded: “Now c’mon, we’ve got a bit of a journey to cover, and I don’t want to have it take any longer than it needs to, especially if I have to spend it looking at your dumb mullet.” They both chuckled, picking up the rest of their things and loading it onto Blue. 

*

Both boys agreed that they’d switch out every hour and a half, Lance would take off first and take the first leg and somewhere along the way, Keith would take over and they’d alternate. They piled into the lion and got themselves situated, luckily Blue was equipped with a larger cockpit, ample room in the back even with the oddly large cot pulled down from the interior of the fuselage in Blue. “Lance, are you sure you don’t want help with navigation to the worm hole?” Keith was insistent for the last time after he got nestled in the cot, under his blankets. “Yes Keith, I know what I’m doing. Trust me I’ve been over this flight plan more than any other- even for a check ride at the Garrison.” He looked back at Keith with a small smirk on his face, that only grew sincere as he saw how Keith had nestled himself in the nest of blankets _‘just like Marco_.’ He looked down, remembering his time with his family in Cuba and how close they all had been, even after Lance had moved away. “Alright, well,” Keith said, interrupting the Blue paladin’s flashback “Just make sure you wake me up when its time for us to switch legs, no matter what.” And with that, Keith turned over in the makeshift bed and nestled somehow even further into it. Lance kept his gaze on the other boy, the blue lights emanating from the Lions interior made him think even more of home and the light up stars he had on his ceiling as they shone down on his little brother Marco. He smiled secretly to himself, making yet another mental note to remember his time on Meer and take advantage of it _‘If something goes wrong’_ he started to himself, now turning forward, and opening the hangar doors -luckily they were remote activated- _‘then this could be the end for me. The last I see of anything even resembling an ocean’_ he advanced the lions throttle, or the equivalent of that of a planes _‘and this could be the only memory Keith has of one, I have to make it count.’_ Lance concluded, making another note-to-self, and just like that, they were on their way to Meer.


	2. Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Kieth, on their way to Meer. This is the only part I'll write of the travel to Meer, with the exception of the last few scenes consisting of the approach and land on Meer :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry for the prolonged update, life is fun to deal with lol...anyways, i hope you enjoy this one! Oh also, i switched the formatting up a bit, so there wouldn't be such large paragraphs, I'll redo the format on the first chapter soon!!
> 
> Oh before I forget lol, Lance is the second eldest sibling in this fic- Veronica, is still his big sis, so keep that in mind ;) and the lion's change of colour signify that it is in ways, thinking,
> 
> Sorry for the interruptions but, I'm using some terminology that I've learned from my flight school, so I'm going to put the definition here at the beginning Notes so you guys can understand a bit better. I'm not going to use it too often, but make sure to check this if I use any in future chapters. Along with some of the VLD time phrases:
> 
> Pilotage- flight navigation through visual references vs the use of technology  
> Fuselage- body of an aircraft  
> Varga- equivalent to an hour  
> Dabosh- Almost a minute

“Lance,” Keith said, quietly however, startling the other paladin in the process, _‘shit, what did I do now?’_ Lance wondered with a pit growing in his stomach, he was frozen, unable to move in his seat. He kept his eyes concentrated, looking at the holographic map and back at the vastness of space, trying to decipher with his somewhat trained pilotage if he was in the right spot. The bunk shifted suddenly and chirred for just a second, but to Lance, it felt more like minutes. Minutes of being in unnecessary tension mixed with fear “Lance!” _‘Oh Dios, I’m in trouble',_ he couldn’t help but think, the boy threatened to just ever so slightly glance back, stalling as much as he could _‘unless Keith calls me again, I won’t do anything’_ Lance concluded. But the ruffling sound of the sheets and the creaking of the cot had finally died down. _‘Huh’_ Lance wondered, finally mustering up the odd courage, he pivoted and looked to the back of the cockpit and into the body of the Blue Lion, where the other boy lay sleeping still. 

 

“Oh,” Lance breathed, the pit vanishing, leaving in its wake, a warm feeling; one that he felt again when remembering his brother Marco, and his sleep dazed mumbling. He would think nothing of the words Keith mumbled, unless he was in trouble, he didn't care. But his mind wondered-as it always did _‘Why am I so scared?’_ He begged his own question, _‘why am I always scared?’_ Unable to find a decent answer and one that he was happy with, he turned his mind on other things, neglecting the light lavender clock counting down the minutes until their swap. 

 

First he sang softly in his head, many different songs at first, some his traditional Spanish, the classics of Frank Sentatra, and the more modern songs of his generation. Then he stumbled upon a certain song, in his mind's playlist it was his song. Imagining as ifhe was listening to _his_ song as he would back home, the song that cured his homesickness when he was at the garrison, one that made him feel secure and tranquil when the ocean was too cold or if it were too dark outside to run to when it could calm him of his worries and endless seas of self doubt. Then he had negligentlyprogressed into a soft barely-there hum, mimicking the cords of _his_ song, growing louder, now softly singing the words he refused to forget _“Set your dreams, where nobody hides.”_ He took a deep breath, still forgivingly ignorant of his singing, however, able to keep his voice at the same low sound, he cross checked his map and the surrounding space, and continued: _“Give your tears to the tide.”_ The nostalgic feeling returned, creeping up in him slowly, eyes tearing as the memories of the ocean leaked into his mind. _“No time, No time.”_ Lance’s eyes closed, allowing himself to feel an odd familiar mix of happiness and sorrow. _“There is no end, there is no goodbye.”_ The lights of Blue went softer as he progressed with _his_ song, however becoming a darker hue of her usually vibrant blue topaz, muddled now with grey. Lance let out a shaky breath, trying to keep from the stinging tears astray from leaving his blurred eyes. He coughed quietly, clearing up his throat for the final line he’d sing, he was done.

 

_“Disappear with the night.”_ Lance’s singing had abruptly stop, unable to complete it in its entirety _‘I won’t get emotional, I can’t. N_ ot _this time. I have a mission to complete.’_ He grew determined to lighten his mood, as thinking of multiple ways to keep his feelings from bubbling to the surface. He looked around on his control panel, eventually noticing Blue’s shift in color. Whispering out to her “Hey girl,” the sticky feeling in his stomach and head went away instantaneously as he opened his mind to her, he smiled a bit as he examined the new lighting “I didn’t know you could do this! It’s beautiful.”She thanked her paladin with a quick change to her normal electric blue, then back to the dark topaz, a color she thought, that resembled a place he loved. 

 

The lavender clock blinked, indicating that it was time for the swap, Lance took one look at it and shut it off _‘I can navigate the wormhole. It’s just a straight shot, and Keith could use the sleep more than me.’_ He assured both him and his Lion. Blue -albeit a bit hesitant- allowed Lance to remain in control without waking Keith, it was just for a little longer after all, and she had the utmost confidence in her boy. Lance looked back again to the other paladin, hoping that he was in fact getting the best sleep he could get; luckily being in space didn’t have turbulence, but there was always a threat of an astroid or any other object taking effect of Newton’s First Law. But the wormhole was a safer way to travel, especially going to far away places like that of Meer _‘no need to worry about such objects just yet.’_ He was watching how the wormhole had warped and altered directions and its pigments into shades and tones that Lance was sure he has never seen before. Mesmerized by the display the natural phenomenon displayed before his eyes, Lance hadn’t heard the rustle of sheets behind him nor the footsteps approaching. The boy jumped when a soft hand laid on his shoulder. He looked behind him to see Keith rubbing his eyes from sleepiness, unmoved by Lance’s motions with his hand still steady on its new post. 

 

“Lance.” The voice was concerned, having a slight undertone of annoyance, said boy brought his eyes up to meet the others. Keith’s face grew to stone as he saw the clock, still ticking away its time “Lance what the hell?” _‘shit.’_ He looked at where Keith was staring, his eyes bulged from their sockets. “Lance, please tell me that I didn’t seep a whole varga longer than our agreement.” His voice was cold, unforgiving and lacking compassion, more importantly, there was no sign of gratitude; not that Lance was searching for any. “Uh…” Lance couldn’t come up with anything in response to Keith’s accusation, instead, both boys sat in silence for a dabosh. Keith finally spoke up, and softened his look ever so slightly “Alright, it is what it is, nothing we can do about it now. But I’m not doing the same for you, so don’t think I owe you any favors.” Lance looked back down at the control panel, away from Keith of whom was still behind his seat and cleared his throat, preparing his response “Yeah, of course man. I just lost track of time and—” He was cut of, much like he did to _his_ song “Yeah, whatever. Just give me a minute to get prepared then we’ll switch.” Keith couldn’t help the rudeness of his voice, he was grateful that he slept longer _‘but at what cost?’_ He couldn’t help but ask, hoping that this fluke wasn’t too detrimental to the mission _‘it’s a microscopic ridge in the smooth plan. This is nothing.’_ Keith walked back to his cot and digging under to retrieve his body armor. Even though there was virtually no Galran fleets nor sight of activity from the rising empire in their flight path, he still felt that he needed it, and it had been the same for Lance, not only was all of his armor on but, even his bayard was still waiting on standby, in the designated panel slot. _‘huh’_ Keith thought, _‘he’s not so unprepared.’_ As he put on the last of his metallic suit, Keith turned around and saw that Lance, though his body was in an alert position, his eyes were closed and his face was resting. 

 

The paladin stood up suddenly and wandered directly to Keith, still with his eyes closed, he set his hand perfectly on his shoulder “Please, take care of her.” He opened them revealing his dark stormy oceans to Keith _‘wow,’_ in awe, Keith accidentally drew back an inch, trying to get a better look, a sign -Lance thought however,- that meant the he didn’t want to be touched. Lance took his hand away as if something had burnt him, he smiled softly, and relaxed his tensed shoulders “thank you, Keith.” He yawned _‘fake’_ Keith caught on, “I don’t think I could’ve done this whole trip by myself.” His smile grew larger, _‘thinking of a smart-assed comment’_ Keith assumed; that was the same shit-eating-grin he gives when he’s about to say something oh so stupid. “Maybe you are good for something after all.” Lance chuckled and Keith threw a nasty yet somewhat playful look yet, Lance was only able to see the former and almost on impact, he winced ever so slightly and slinked back again, though a larger gap was now put between them. “Right then.” He sighed tiredly, though it had come more mentally rather than physically. He looked back to Keith, “I already have your map and your first leg pulled up on Blue so, yeah.” He started walking back to the cot that was no doubt cold by now. 

 

“Thanks Lance. Get some rest.” Keith reciprocated the same appreciation and advice he had received before with a curt nod in exchange from Lance. The Blue paladin shuffled over to the makeshift bed and took off his putter armor, _‘too bulky.’_ He told himself then jumped in the sheets, removing the excessive plush blankets and left the bare minimum -a sheet. Keith looked back to see that his teammate was already in the bed and grimaced at the small amount of coverage Lance had with his paper thin linens. 

 

Keith clambered his way onto the seat of Blue, of whose, both seat and the back rest had been a bit large for himself _‘damn’_ Keith thought as he tried to adjust so he could reach the Lion’s equivalent of a yoke, his arms however proved to be just too short to reach and grab onto them comfortably. “Hey -uh- Lance, I can’t reach the controls.” He was hoping to get advice on what to do to accommodate this situation, (though he wasn’t in a rush to start his leg, Keith didn’t want to wake Lance in the middle of his resting time) however, the boy was already in deep sleep, and waking him up would be like waking the dead- undoable. Keith climbed out of the seat and looked at the top of Blue’s fuselage asking quietly if she could do anything, receiving no response, Keith went to the storage compartments where the boys had put their personal things. Retrieving his jacket and going back to the seat, he let it act as a cushion for his back, but the leather proved to be uncomfortable after twenty minutes, he succumbed to the feeling and went to get something else. _‘shit! I didn’t bring any other clothes…Keith you idiot.’_ He shook his head at his lack of preparation and went to Lance’s bag, _‘He hopefully brought something other than his whole skincare routine.’_ And sure enough, after rummaging through the mountain of bottles Keith found his change of clothes, he nabbed his jacket, of which was much thicker than his own _‘this will have to do.’_ He put back everything the way he found it -or as he remembered it- and tried again, this time, Lance had solved his problem, _‘though indirectly and unknowingly.’ Keith looked back at Lance -who was now facing the back wall of the Lion's cockpit, away from Keith- and smiled. "Sleep well."_  

 

_“Lo siento, Mamá. Yo no sé la razón por favor Mamá. déjame en paz! Lo siento Mamá por favor!” Lance didn’t know when or if he would come back from the Garrison for Christmas. “No me gusta es tampoco!” He was pleading with her, to stop worrying and most of all, stop yelling at him, ‘its not like I don’t want to come home either.’He thought, the situation was unfair, the contract did say -after all- that ‘the students were welcome to leave the base when the school was on holiday,’ it didn’t make sense, why couldn’t he leave?_

_—As he was trying to catch the second to last plane home, Lance was stopped by the Garrison security and escorted back onto the premises._

_“Lance, dime. ¿qui demonios está pasado?” His mother pestered him with an adequate answer, one other than what he was telling her, her voice was gruff and tired. ‘shit.’ Lance let out a huff, “mamá I’ll figure this out tomorrow morning, I promise I’ll see you all soon. Lo siento.” Not wanting to hear her angered tone, he hung up and continued unpacking his things in his dorm._

_—“Lance McClain, we’re sorry but you haven’t been authorized to leave the base.” “¿Qué carajo?” Lance cursed at them, “McClain, you are not authorized to leave.” The guards repeated sternly, replacing their softer voices with hostility, now walking up to him, threatening that he should turn back now. Lance got the hint, knowing that he couldn’t ask questions because of the base’s security levels, he left the terminal and called his mother, one hand dragging his suitcase while the other hesitantly dialed her number._

_He cried that night, listening to his song that would replace the ocean’s waves, he was so tired of not seeing the crystal blue seas, nor hearing the rushing sounds of their tides mixed with the seagulls cries. “¡Mierda!” He cried louder in his pillow, knowing that there was no one around a twenty foot radius to hear it. “Mierda, fucking hell. ¡Dio mío!” Lance couldn’t control himself nor his sobbing, he didn’t want to. Lance loved his family, but the lack of ocean was taking even more of a toll on him, he dreamed about it more than he did any of his siblings or parents, he made efforts of drawing it and picturing any and every detail he could. But it was never enough._

_“Lance” he heard “Lan_ ce.” 

 

“Lance! Wake up.” The boy moaned and rubbed his eyes, laying over onto his back now propping himself up on his forearms, the small pillow beneath one of his arms felt damp _‘ew, please don’t tell me o drooled all over myself.’_ He pleaded, hoping Keith wouldn’t notice. But Keith had locked his eyes onto Lance’s, “What’s up, Keith?” Lance wondered why he was being stared at that way. “Lance, are you okay?.” The Red paladin’s voice was low and soft, _‘what the hell, I’ve never seen him like this. Its a complete 180 from earlier, what the hell.’_ He answered “Yeah man, what’s wrong? You’re starting to make me worry man.” He laughed awkwardly, trying to relieve the pensive tension Keith was emanating onto him. “You,” Keith stumbled with his words, then finally spitting them out “you were crying, Lance. And speaking Spanish.” Lance winced as he remembered bits of the dream produced by that _‘god awful’_ memory, the frustration he felt came back from the dream and the sick pit in his stomach also returned -though that was a feeling from earlier stages of the mission. 

Lance brought his hands up to his eyes and felt the tears that were beginning to dry, he wanted to yell at Keith for not piloting Blue like he was supposed to be doing now, he wanted to scream at him for intruding, he wanted to punch and rip his hair out for showing him that damn expression, proving that Keith does care and that he does have a heart. But instead, Lance hugged Keith and cried into his shoulder. The Blue boy didn’t know what came over him, perhaps he was craving some kind of human contact or maybe he was looking for a hug and kiss from his mom -ones that he always received when she knew something was wrong, even if he hadn’t said anything, she always knew. Rather than any of those possible answers, he knew what he was searching for with this _simple_ hug: the ocean, _his_ song. And that is what he got. 

Though he thought that Keith would push him off, the gesture was reciprocated by him, Keith’s arms held the Blue boy tight and close and all Lance saw when he opened his eyes were the blue topaz waters, all he heard as well were the soft beats of the beloved song. The words however, were missing and the crashes of the tides were absent, _‘but this will do.’_ Lance wouldn’t take this moment for granted, he promised that though he couldn’t remember for the life of him the first ‘bonding moment,’ he would hold this one close to him.

 

“thank you Keith.” He repeated multiple times, so many that the Red paladin gave up saying ‘your welcome’ or ‘of course.’ Instead he started rubbing the other boys back, comforting him the way Shiro taught him how to for other people (he was glad that the training of sorts came in handy for once.) They stayed like that, for only time knew how long. 

 

Eventually, when Lance’s crying had quieted down and Keith’s body suit shoulder (and part of his chest) were thoroughly soaked through, they stood up together. Keith was thankful, although he was happy being a literal shoulder to cry on, his knees desperately needed a break from kneeling next to the cot with half of Lance’s body weight on him. As they slowly stood up, Lance’s legs grew wobbly, threatening to collapse from the awkward twisted position they were in, Keith recognizing this supported some of his teammate’s weight and walked them both over to the storage compartment. Not a word was exchanged between them during the small journey they went to sit down onto Blue’s floor, Keith eased Lance onto the ground, and stretched his legs out then sat down next to the other boy. He pulled the compartment doors open as the Blue paladin rubbed his eyes wiped his nose on the sleeves of his body suit. 

 

Opening his eyes and peering into the nook, Lance noticed an item missing, and panicked _“I know for a fact that I put my jacket in here, where the hell is it??’_ Keith saw the mini freakout the other paladin was having and instantly knew, “Oh, yeah, sorry about your missing jacket. I had to borrow it for my leg.” “What do you mean ‘borrow’?” Lance threw his finger quotations up and drew a smirk on his face, wondering why Keith was oh so barely blushing. “I uh.” Keith stalled, trying to find the proper words as to not emasculate himself too much. “Oh, go on, Keith. I wanna hear this!” He chuckled out, hoping that the explanation would cheer him, if not both of them up from the damp mood from before. “I couldn’t reach the controls, okay!” The Red paladin blurted out, turning away and finished his explanation “I sat in the chair and I was too-” “small” Lance butted in, making Keith blush in partial -playful- humiliation. “Oh shut it, anyways” he continued with his story “I was going to ask you what to do about it but you were already sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake you.” “Aweee thank you Keith!” Lance interjected yet again. “Yeah, whatever.” Keith smiled at him “So I went for my jacket, but after a while it hurt so I went to yours which is way more comfortable than I expected!” “Ah, yeah, tell me about it. I have so many memories of falling asleep in the Garrison library with that thing as a pillow.” As lance began with his story, the mood shifted completely, and during the rest of Keith’s leg, (though he wouldn’t admit that he still had time left, Keith thanked Blue internally for her autopilot feature, and the clearness of space) they sat there and talked, exchanging stories and sharing laughs in Blue’s cockpit as they drank water and Lance did his skin routine trying to minimize the swelling of his eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me if you guys dislike or the use of pilot terminology. Seriously. I want to make this fic as good as I can! Thank you!!

**Author's Note:**

> okay, upon trying multiple things, this is how the editing came out....im sorry lol, like i said, i don't really use this program so im getting used to it. again, if you have any tips at all (seriously, even the most minute tip will help me) for the formatting email me or something. i'd just like to ask that you guys don't comment the tip >.> Thank you for the read!!


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